HS Child Welfare Social Worker I/II/III

Ventura County•Ventura, CA

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

Be part of the strength of human relationships and community partnerships by becoming a Child Welfare Social Worker! As a Child Welfare Social Worker, you will play a crucial role in protecting children by strengthening families. You will perform specialized casework activities including, but not limited to offering supportive services to children and families to ensure healthy relationships and investigating reports of suspected neglect, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, or exploitation. Child Welfare Social Workers work as a part of a collaborative team to provide meaningful case management, placement, certification of resource family homes, and supervision of children and families in the child welfare system.

Requirements

Possession of a valid California driver license.
Must furnish their own vehicles for use on the job and are reimbursed for mileage.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Skills must be demonstrated in the completion of the employment application and supplemental questionnaire and will be evaluated during the probationary period.
HS Child Welfare Social Worker I Option No. 1 Possession of a Bachelor's degree in Social Work (BSW) or Social Welfare/Justice; Option No. 2 Current enrollment in the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC/Title IV-E) for Master's degree in Social Work; Option No. 3 Current enrollment in the final semester of a Master's program at an accredited college or university leading to a Master's degree in social work or related Master's degree that meets the education requirements for a Marriage and Family Therapist license used by the California Department of Consumer Affairs Board of Behavioral Science Examiners. NOTE: Failure to submit proof of completion of the Master's degree within six (6) months of appointment may be cause for termination; Option No. 4 Possession of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in a field related to human services AND one (1) year of full-time experience performing social work case management services for either abused, or neglected children and their families or abused, frail, and elderly adults and their families. Social Work case management services should include performing assessments, case planning, case monitoring, and referral; Option No. 5 Possession of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university AND One (1) year of full-time experience as a Community Services Worker III or comparable position (such as Case Aide) with the County of Ventura Human Services Agency, Children and Family Services, or Adult and Family Services OR one (1) year of full-time experience providing Adult Protective Services, Homeless Services, or journey level or above experience in Employment case management services or as an In-Home Support Services Social Worker with the County of Ventura Human Services Agency; OR at least one (1) year of full-time experience as a case management social worker in a public child protective services agency.
HS Child Welfare Social Worker II Option No. 1 At least one (1) year of full-time experience as a HS Child Welfare Social Worker I with the County of Ventura Human Services Agency; Option No. 2 Possession of a Master's degree in Social Work (MSW), Human Services, Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), or a closely-related field from an accredited college or university; OR Option No. 3 At least three (3) years of full-time experience as a case management social worker in a public child protective services agency.
HS Child Welfare Social Worker III Option No. 1 At least one (1) year of full-time experience as a HS Child Welfare Social Worker II with the County of Ventura Human Services Agency; Option No. 2 Possession of a Master's degree in Social Work (MSW), Human Services, Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), or a closely-related field from an accredited college or university AND at least one (1) year of full-time experience as a case management social worker in a public child protective services agency; OR Option No. 3 At least four (4) years of full-time experience as a case management social worker in a public child protective services agency.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree in Social Work or related field.
Recent experience working as a social worker in a public child protective services agency.
Experience preparing professional reports.

Responsibilities

Investigates instances of child abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
Offers supportive services to preserve families and assesses if children can remain safely in the home or need to be placed in resource (foster or kinship) care.
Case manages families in the child welfare system.
Makes recommendations for dispositions of dependency cases.
Prepares written petitions and reports for the court and may appear in court on behalf of the Department.
Works with the Dependency Court system to implement service/case plans and helps families understand the Dependency Court system.
Provides preventative and supportive services to children and families at risk of entry into the child welfare system.
Engages and assists families working toward reunification and maintaining safety in their home.
Collaborates and teams with children and families’ network of support, such as parents, caregivers, relatives, youth, teachers, physicians, mental health professionals, law enforcement, probation officers, representatives of other county, private, and non-profit agencies, and faith-based organizations for joint planning, staffing of service needs, development of service/case plans, evaluation, monitoring of cases, and child and family team meetings.
Provides resources and referrals to families to help support their needs and achieve service/case plan goals.
Arranges and monitors relative and community placements for children in out of home care.
Supports resource families (foster/kinship) to care for children placed into the child welfare system maintain relationships with their families of origin, and provide permanency for those who cannot return to their homes.
Conducts inspections of resource/kinship homes to evaluate for emergency placement, initial license, license renewal, or cancellation.
Answers calls that come into the Child/Elder Abuse Reporting Hotline and assesses appropriate responses needed by using available tools.
Performs other related duties as required.
Provides consultation to, serves as a resource, and may assist other social workers (CWSW III only).
Prepares and presents training on procedures, regulations, or specified topics for presentation as needed (CWSW III only).

Benefits

General Salary Increases – New employees in this classification series are eligible for general salary increases of 3.5% effective December 20, 2026 and December 19, 2027.
Merit Increases – New employees are eligible for an initial 5% merit increase within the pay range upon completion of at least 1,040 hours (approximately 6 months) assuming work meets satisfactory standards. Subsequent merit increases within the pay range will be upon completion of each additional 2,080 hours (approximately one year) from the initial merit increase.
Educational Incentive – An educational incentive of 2.5% for completion of an associate's degree, 3.5% for completion of a bachelor's degree, OR 5% for completion of a graduate degree.
Bilingual Incentive – Based on agency need, proficiency levels by exam are $.69 per hour (Level I), $1.00 per hour (Level II), or $1.32 per hour (Level III).
Flexible Workweek/Telework Schedule – We support work life balance by offering compressed work schedules (e.g., 9/80 or 4/10 workweek) and/or telework options for most positions subject to organizational needs and satisfactory performance.
Vacation Accrual – New regular, full-time employees shall accrue approximately 14 days of vacation a year for the first 10,400 hours or 5 years of service; vacation accruals increase at 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 20 years of service topping out at 26 days a year and 400 hours of vacation hours banked.
Annual Leave Redemption – After 14,560 hours of continuous County service an employee may elect to "cash in" or redeem up to 80 hours of vacation accrued in the same year after using 80 hours of vacation in the preceding 12 months.
Sick Leave – Full-time regular employees accrue 3.08 hours of sick leave per bi-weekly pay period with an advance at hire of 40.04 hours which will be balanced at the completion of 13 bi-weekly pay periods.
Deferred Compensation – Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 3.00% match on your 401(k) contributions.
Health Plans – Full-time employees are given a flexible credit allowance of up to $26,626.86 annually to offset the purchase of medical, dental, and/or vision insurance for you and your dependents.
Flexible Spending Accounts – Pre-tax benefit towards eligible medical, dental and vision care and/or dependent care expenses.
Pension Plan – Participation in the County's defined benefit pension plan, which has reciprocity with CalPERS.
Holidays – 13 paid days per year, which includes a scheduled floating holiday.
Additional Benefits – Tuition Reimbursement, Disability Plans, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Wellness Program.
Overtime compensation.